Innovating to support Finastra
Lumen Technologies ’ Ian Cunningham discusses how the company help Finastra modernise its networks and improve its customer service
Lumen Technologies is a multinational technology company that enables companies to capitalise on emerging applications and power the 4th Industrial Revolution . In doing so , the company integrates network assets , cloud connectivity , security solutions and voice and collaboration tools into one platform . This enables businesses to leverage their data and adopt next-generation technologies .
Discussing the company , Ian Cunningham , Vice President EMEA Sales and Customer Success said : “ We support financial organisations , manufacturing organisations , and pharmaceutical organisations to name a few , but also we work very closely with leading cloud providers like Amazon , Google and Microsoft .”
One key client for Lumen is the financial technology provider , Finastra . With a relationship spanning nearly a decade , Lumen and Finastra have worked closely to understand how each other operates .
Cunningham explained that in the last three years , this relationship with Finastra has developed into a more strategic one . This began with a programme to consolidate Finatra ’ s WAN infrastructure . Supporting Finastra ’ s ‘ One
Finastra ’ initiative , Lumen worked to consolidate what had previously been 13 different vendors into one managed WAN infrastructure .
“ Finastra has been very open in sharing the strategy and vision for the organisation and the direction in which they ’ re going . We ’ ve spent time developing a strategy with them on how Lumen can support that ,” said Cunningham .
He added : “ Building on from their network consolidation , we ’ ve worked very closely with Finastra in terms of modernising the contact centre and how they engage with their customers . We ’ ve introduced a new solution for them that effectively provides an omnichannel experience for their customers . It has allowed their customers to communicate with them and also engage with them through multi-channels in a way that is suitable to the customer .”
On top of this , Lumen has helped put in place a unified communications solution for Finastra . This system was designed pre-COVID and was originally meant to be implemented just as the pandemic struck .
“ With Finastra , we started talking about how they were looking to collaborate and move forward . This meant completely adapting the solution that we had designed ,” Cunningham said . He concluded : “ Being adaptable and understanding exactly what our customers need is very important to us as an organisation ; it is ultimately at the heart of it . We want to make sure that the success of our customers is paramount .”